Motorbike trip to Scotland

августа - сентября 2019

We are planning to ride our motorbikes to the Isle of Bute and back. Читать далее

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Путешественник Motorbike trip to Scotland
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- 20 авг. 2019 г., 12:17
- ⛅ 17 °C
- Высота: 21 м
- Англия Newquay Tolcarne Beach 50.414859, -5.06560550°24’53” N 5°3’56” W
The plan
20 августа 2019 г., Англия ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
So, the plan for the trip is...
Friday - Newquay to Bath, avoiding the motorway
Saturday - Bath to York, mainly on A roads, but it's a long way, so probably motorway around Coventry/Leicester
Sunday - York to Wooler in time for lunch with Judith
Monday - Wooler to Berwick on Tweed to see Eleanor and John
Tuesday - Berwick to Edinburgh
Wednesday - Edinburgh to Bute for 3 nights
Then we have 3 nights to find our way down, possibly Lindsey's, then somewhere in Wales and then Bristol, but we're waiting to see how the journey up goes before we commit to mileages or routes.
Wish us luck!Читать далее
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Путешественник Best of luck.
20.08.2019Ответить
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Путешественник Motorbike trip to Scotland
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- 22 авг. 2019 г., 11:27
- ⛅ 18 °C
- Высота: 23 м
- Англия Newquay Tolcarne Beach 50.414629, -5.0653150°24’53” N 5°3’55” W
Packing
22 августа 2019 г., Англия ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
We're nearly packed up - we wanted to start early so we knew how much space we needed.

I've packed all my clothes and shoes into one of my panniers:
Trainers
Sandals
4 dresses
Smart going out jumpsuit
Pair of jeans
2 pairs of leggings
2 pairs of shorts
7 tops
Pyjamas
1 warm jumper
Sports bra and as much clean underwear as I could find (and some extra knickers on the advice of a good friend who knows)
Travel towel
Toiletries

Jamie has my other pannier - I don't think he's planning to take as many dresses.

We then have Jamie's panniers for other bits and bobs, and my top box empty for throwing in bike gear if we need to when we stop.

I'm also taking my tank bag with things I need easily accessible - waterproofs, purse, phone, directions written in big letters, bottle of water.

We now have intercoms, so can listen to music and chat as we ride, which I think is going to make the journey a lot more enjoyable. And hopefully reduce the likelihood of us losing each other.

So excited to get going to tomorrow morning!Читать далее
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Путешественник Looks good. Have you got a long bike chain and lock, handy for locking your helmets to your bike.
22.08.2019Ответить
Путешественник We both have helmet locks now on the bikes now.
23.08.2019Ответить
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Путешественник Motorbike trip to Scotland
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- 23 авг. 2019 г., 22:06
- 🌙 15 °C
- Высота: 145 м
- Англия Bath 51.36083, -2.3538751°21’39” N 2°21’14” W
2
День 1
Day one
23 августа 2019 г., Англия ⋅ 🌙 15 °C
Ugh, I already wrote this, then managed to lose it somehow.

We set off at 8:30, managing to get Xander out of bed to take the first photo of the trip!

We managed just over 2 hours of riding before having to stop for a toilet break just short of Lynmouth. We grabbed some petrol and headed into the village for a walk. Shoulders were aching and bums were numb by then. We left our coats in my top box, but kept bike trousers on, and over heated pretty quickly. It was truly hot.

The next stage of the journey was very warm and very twisty, but then opened out into nice wide roads. Lots of traffic around Barnstaple, but the views along the North Devon coast made it worthwhile.

We made it across the M5 at Bridgewater and looked for the first place we could find to grab some lunch. After failing to stop at the first three places we finally stopped at the Ashcroft Inn for a lovely bacon brie and cranberry ciabatta sandwich in the garden.

It was just another hour to Bath, so we arrived at the air BnB at exactly 3:30, 7 hours and 184 miles from leaving home.

This evening we walked into Bath, about 25 minutes through fields and woods, a lovely change to stretch our legs. We had a drink in the pub then spoiled ourselves with a trip to the spa. 2 hours of relaxing in the warm water, saunas, Steam rooms and swimming.

Dinner was taken at Franco Manco something or other next to the train station, which was surprisingly good!Читать далее
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Путешественник Hope all that oil has come from your van!
23.08.2019Ответить
Путешественник Hmm, yes i think so!
24.08.2019Ответить
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Путешественник Motorbike trip to Scotland
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- 24 авг. 2019 г., 10:45
- ⛅ 22 °C
- Высота: 21 м
- Англия Bawtry 53.43007, -1.02153°25’48” N 1°1’16” W
День 2
Navigation
24 августа 2019 г., Англия ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
Sometimes you just need old fashioned navigation techniques.
Although we did change our plans and end up following Jamie's Sat Nav a bit.
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Путешественник Motorbike trip to Scotland
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- 24 авг. 2019 г., 11:03
- ⛅ 22 °C
- Высота: 9 м
- Англия Escrick 53.8753, -1.0423653°52’31” N 1°2’32” W
День 2
Day 2
24 августа 2019 г., Англия ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
Well, that was an amazing day of riding. Once we managed to escape from Bath, the roads were empty, wide and beautiful. We just followed the Fosse Way all the way to the A5 near Leicester. It was so hot though, whenever we stopped it was a job to get my gloves off my hands were so sweaty.

We stopped at a lovely village after about an hour of riding called Moreton in the Marsh for breakfast, and bought a picnic to eat later for lunch, to try and conserve funds.

We did 10 miles of motorway up the M69 and M1 then stopped for petrol at Leicester Forest East. £1.50 a litre!! We had ridden 112 miles since the last petrol stop. Jamie had used 6.35 litres, I used 9.95! But my bike is faster!

We didn't want to get to our next air BnB too early so we stopped in Bawtry just south of Doncaster for lunch. We had a drink to cool down, then had a
wander around the village and found a park to eat our picnic.

Getting back to our bikes I couldn't find my keys for my panniers. Which had our bike jackets in, which had my bike key in the pocket. We really needed the keys. I almost walked back to retrace our steps, but luckily Jamie eventually found them in his pocket! A bit scary, not sure what we would have done if they were really lost!

We arrived in Escrick at our gorgeous air BnB at 4:45, 230 miles and 8 hours after leaving Bath. We're staying with Judi who is super friendly and has made us feel completely at home. We had a walk around Queen Margaret's school to the Temple and back and through the village before stopping at the Black Bull pub for dinner, which is almost across the road from her house. The village is really pretty, surrounded by quiet and very flat country side and farm land.

We got back at 9:00 just in time to watch Casualty with Judi and her gorgeous dogs. We would definitely recommend staying here if anyone needs accommodation near York.Читать далее
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Путешественник Motorbike trip to Scotland
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- 25 авг. 2019 г., 13:37
- ⛅ 26 °C
- Высота: 78 м
- Англия Wooler Wooler Castle 55.54635, -2.0159355°32’47” N 2°0’57” W
День 3
Afternoon in Wooler
25 августа 2019 г., Англия ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
After a cup of tea and a lovely lunch of egg rolls we set off on shortish walk around the surrounding countryside of Wooler. It was really very hot so we took it easy and stopped to admire the view on a regular basis. I only lost my phone once, but luckily didn't have to retrace our steps too far to find it. Actually we didn't need to retrace our steps at all, but we didn't realise that at the time. Long story, you really needed to be there.

On return to the village we all felt it was necessary to check out the beer garden of one of the pubs in the village that Judith hadn't yet tried, and test the beverages on offer. We can report the cider was refreshing, but the beer garden was more of a courtyard and unfortunately a little smokey.

Judith then taught and beat us at a game of Qwerkle before dinner, then a pleasant evening stroll up the hill to watch the sunset.Читать далее
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Путешественник Motorbike trip to Scotland
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- 25 авг. 2019 г.
- ⛅ 24 °C
- Высота: 77 м
- Англия Wooler 55.54631, -2.0160455°32’47” N 2°0’58” W
День 3
Day 3
25 августа 2019 г., Англия ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
We had a good night sleep and Judi gave us cereals and freshly made bread for breakfast before we set off again about 9:00 for Wooler. We filled up with petrol in the village before heading up the A1m. We were planning to take a more scenic route further east, but decided to get to Judith's as quickly as we could. The roads were clear all the way, and the weather was slightly cooler than yesterday and a hazy sunshine so it was actually a really pleasant ride. We stopped again at Washington services to fill up again (97 miles, 7.4l @ 156.9p and I thought yesterday was expensive!)

It was just another hour to Wooler, the last 40 minutes or so along gorgeous wide open roads, unfortunately following a car doing 55 mph everytime it came to a bend or a hill until there was somewhere to overtake when it sped back up to 60!

We arrived in Wooler at 12:00 after a short day's riding of 140 miles.Читать далее
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Путешественник Motorbike trip to Scotland
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- 26 авг. 2019 г., 09:23
- ⛅ 16 °C
- Высота: 27 м
- Шотландия Edinburgh Newhaven 55.97341, -3.2030355°58’24” N 3°12’11” W
День 4
Day 5
26 августа 2019 г., Шотландия ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
We left Eleanor's this morning and headed straight to a local bike mechanic she had found for us. Unfortunately he wasn't working today, but his neighbours gave us directions to another one who luckily was working and who was awesome enough to fix Jamie's bike.
When we arrived in Bath on Friday he realised that his clutch cable was fraying, and ever since then we had been trying to keep to clear roads and avoid having to stop, speed up or slow down too frequently so that he didn't have to change gear!Each day he lost a few more strands and by today there really weren't many left. We did try to get hold of a new cable but there weren't any in the country, and we had to order one from Germany which is going to arrive on Wednesday. As it was also bank holiday weekend, we struggled to find anyone available or willing to help, so we just had to keep going until today in the hope we'd find someone in Berwick.
But Tim the lovely mechanic replaced the cable and we are now good as new!

With happy bikes we were able to take the scenic route to Edinburgh up the B6355 across the moorland and over the hills which was gorgeous. We saw about 6 cars the whole way, and the views were amazing.
We arrived in Edinburgh about 1:30 and were luckily able to get into the air BnB to leave our stuff before heading into the city.Читать далее
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Путешественник Motorbike trip to Scotland
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- 26 авг. 2019 г.
- ☀️ 20 °C
- Высота: 16 м
- Англия Berwick-upon-Tweed Berwick-Upon-Tweed 55.7667, -2.010655°46’0” N 2°0’38” W
День 4
Day 4
26 августа 2019 г., Англия ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C
Only 16 miles today! And a gorgeous road from Wooler to Tweed mouth, but slight slower than usual as Judith came with us to see Eleanor for the day.
We took a picnic with us, and Eleanor and John took us took us to an amazing spot on the river Whiteadder for a swim and to jump in off the rocks. Near the rocks the water was so deep we never managed to touch the bottom.

Judith headed home after we had finished our lunch and the rest of us went on to Chain Bridge Honey Farm so Jamie could visit Scotland for the first time, and we could have a cup of tea.

We had a good walk around the town walls of Berwick, all the way down to the lighthouse and then stopped in a cute little bar for a quick pint before dinner.Читать далее
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Путешественник Motorbike trip to Scotland
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- 27 авг. 2019 г., 14:58
- ⛅ 19 °C
- Высота: 88 м
- Шотландия Edinburgh Marchmont 55.93452, -3.2056555°56’4” N 3°12’20” W
День 5
Day 5 afternoon in Edinburgh
27 августа 2019 г., Шотландия ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
We love Edinburgh. The streets are so wide, it feels really spacious. Even the busy bits don't feel overwhelmingly busy, though I know we wouldn't be saying that if we'd been here a week ago. It doesn't feel as dirty as other cities either. The buildings are amazing, they just go on up, and not ones made of steel and glass, these are really old houses and other buildings built before there were cranes! They are so higgledy piggledy and beautiful.

We walked in to the city from the air BnB for about half an hour along a quiet pedestrian path away from the roads, through King George's park where we stopped for a picnic lunch.

We walked up to the castle and got as close as we could without paying, used their toilets and then headed back down the hill. Without seeing the inside of the castle, the most impressive thing was the temporary structure built for the Military Tattoo for the festival that they were just starting to take down. Eleanor had told us about it, but once we saw it we genuinely didn't believe that it could possibly be temporary until we asked one of the visitor guides! It's amazing - it takes them 6 weeks to put it up and take it down for a month of usage during the festival.

We then walked down the royal mile, and out to the Scottish parliament, and Holyrood palace before climbing Arthur's seat. It was pretty hot, and a really tough climb. I'm reasonably fit, but I was knackered by the time we got to the top! And there were so many people up there: small children, people wearing completely inappropriate footwear, much older people than us... I can't believe they all made it up there! We did walk pretty quickly, but still!

On returning to the city we found a cake shop to replenish our energy reserves, then a pub to replenish our cider reserves. We walked round the city a bit longer until it was a reasonable time to get dinner, and found a fab place to eat.Читать далее
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